The athlete as citizen: judgement and rhetorical invention in sport

Abstract

The prevailing wisdom in the USA is that sport and politics should not mix. Accordingly, highly paid professional athletes are often criticized when they express their views about politics. This essay argues that athletes have every right to be political and that sport is a productive site for thinking about engaged citizenship. The argument grounds citizenship not in national identity but in the rhetorical tradition's emphasis on public discourse and democracy. Specifically, citizenship can be seen as a means of enacting a form of judgement that is active and artistic, and constitutes new possibilities for public interaction. Three examples – Andy Roddick, Scott Fujita, and Steve Nash – demonstrate how this form of judgement can work in sport.

Notes

^1.Pearlman, ‘Pro Athletes’.

^2.Zirin, ‘Shut Up and Play’.

^3.Kaufman and Wolff, ‘Playing and Protesting’.

^4.Butterworth, Baseball and Rhetorics of Purity; Butterworth, ‘Race in “The Race”’; Butterworth, ‘Pitchers and Catchers’; Michael L. Butterworth, ‘Saved at Home’.

^5. Butterworth, ‘Saved at Home’, 326.

^6.Foss et al., ‘An Introduction to Rhetoric’.

^7. In Booth, The Rhetoric of Rhetoric.

^8.Bitzer, ‘The Rhetorical Situation’.

^9.Charland, ‘Constitutive Rhetoric’.

^10. For more on the public nature of rhetoric, see Lucaites and Condit, ‘Introduction’.

^11.Timmerman and McDorman, ‘Introduction’.

^12.Hogan, ‘Rhetorical Pedagogy and Democratic Citizenship’.

^13.Von Burg, ‘Caught Between History and Imagination’.

^14.Asen, ‘A Discourse Theory of Citizenship’.

^15. Ibid., 200.

^16.Hariman and Lucaites, ‘Dissent and Emotional Management’.

^17.Poulakos, Sophistical Rhetoric, emphasis mine.

^18.Hawhee, Bodily Arts.

^19. Ibid., 14.

^20.Heidlebaugh, Judgment, Rhetoric, and the Problem of Incommensurability.

^21. Ibid., 10, 12.

^22.Beiner, Political Judgment.

^23. Heidlebaugh, Judgment, Rhetoric, and the Problem of Incommensurability, 25, 26.

^24.Mouffe, The Democratic Paradox.

^25.Ivie, Democracy and America's War on Terror.

^26.Grano, ‘Ritual Disorder’.

^27. Heidlebaugh, Judgment, Rhetoric, and the Problem of Incommensurability, 40, 43, 45.

^28.Anderson, Imagined Communities; Charland, ‘Constitutive Rhetoric’, 137.

^29.McGee, ‘In Search of ‘The People’’.

^30.Garratt, ‘Sporting Citizenship’; Eley and Kirk, ‘Developing Citizenship Through Sport’; Giardina, ‘Global Hingis’.

^31.Andrews and Jackson, ‘Introduction’.

^32.Kanna, ‘Flexible Citizenship in Dubai’.

^33. A visa is not typically required for tennis players. However, because Israel and the UAE do not have formal diplomatic relations, a visa is required for Israeli players to enter the Dubai tournament.

^34. ‘Tennis Channel Cancels Dubai Coverage’, ESPN.com, http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id = 39129 (accessed February 17, 2009).

^35. ‘WTA Fines Dubai; Roddick Withdraws’, ESPN.com, http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id = 3922734 (accessed February 20, 2009).

^36. ‘Venus Rules Out Boycott over Peer’, BBC Sport, http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/7897265.stm (accessed February 18, 2009).

^37.Olson, ‘Even on Spirited Court’.

^38. Ibid.

^39. ‘WTA Fines Dubai; Roddick Withdraws’, ESPN.com, http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id = 3922734 (accessed February 20, 2009).

^40.Knapp, ‘Roddick Protest Worthy of Praise’; Wertheim, ‘The Peer-Dubai Fallout Rages On’; Olson, ‘Even on Spirited Court’.

^41.King, ‘Way Out of Bounds’.

^42.Layden, ‘Intimidation Rules’.

^43.Connell, ‘An Iron Man’.

^44.LaPointe, ‘The Saints Linebacker who Speaks his Mind’.

^45.Ayanbedejo, ‘Same Sex Marriages’.

^46.Bolcer, ‘Scott Fujita Plays’; Zeigler, ‘Scott Fujita Blazing Gay-Friendly Trail in NFL’.

^47.Zirin, ‘Why I Support’.

^48.Zeigler, ‘Scott Fujita Blazing Gay-Friendly Trail in NFL’.

^49. Zirin, ‘Why I Support’.

^50. Zeigler, ‘Michael Irvin’.

^51. Bolcer, ‘Scott Fujita Plays’.

^52.Strang, ‘Sean Avery Called Homophobic Slur’. Given the connection Irvin makes between racial discrimination and the discrimination of the LGBT community, it is a bitter irony that Simmonds is black and had been the target of a racially motivated incident, when a fan threw a banana on the ice Simmonds’ direction, only a week before his exchange with Avery.

^53. Asen, ‘A Discourse Theory of Citizenship’, 198.

^54.Adande, ‘Suns Using Jerseys to Send Message’.

^55. ‘Los Suns' Jerseys Set for Cinco de Mayo’, ESPN.com, http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2010/news/story?id = 5162380 (accessed May 4, 2010).

^56. ‘Arizona Law: Steve Nash Speaks Out on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption’, Orlando Sentinel, http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports-sentinel-sports-now/2010/05/05/arizona-law-steve-nash-speaks-out-on-espns-pardon-the-interruption/ (accessed May 5, 2010).

^57.Pollakoff, ‘Steve Nash Discusses SB 1070 after Suns’.

^58. Asen, ‘A Discourse Theory of Citizenship’, 200.

^59. Pollakoff, ‘Steve Nash Discusses SB 1070 after Suns’.

^60.Koster, ‘Adrian Gonzalez Speaks Out against Arizona Immigration Law’.

^61.Zirin, ‘Adrian Gonzalez’.

^62. Ibid.

^63. For more on Scott, see Brown, ‘Answer Man’.

^64.Bouton, ‘Foreward’.